1 October 1943 – 6 August 2025
Ordained: 19 February 1973
Consecrated: 15 June 2007
Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Melbourne, Peter Elliott passed away on Wednesday at the age of 81, following a life of ministry dedicated to ecumenism, liturgy and the family.
“The Church has lost a faithful servant and true friend to many with the passing today of Bishop Peter Elliot, Auxiliary Bishop-emeritus of Melbourne,” said Bishop Anthony Randazzo.
“Bishop Elliot studied and travelled widely, recognised for his contribution both in Australia and Rome for his work and writings on Church History, Family and Marriage and Religious Education. May Our Lord welcome him home and grant him eternal rest.”
Bishop Elliott was a man of scholarly clarity who enjoyed a deep love for the sacred liturgy, pastoral care for families and a passion for sound catechesis.
Born in 1943, Peter John Elliott was the eldest son of an Anglican priest. He attended Melbourne Grammar School and earned a Master of Arts in History from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Arts in Theology from the University of Oxford.
It was during his time at Oxford, Elliott decided to join the Catholic Church and he was received into the Church. He returned home in 1969 to begin studies for the priesthood and was ordained to the Priesthood on 19 February 1973 by Lawrence Cardinal Shehan, Archbishop of Baltimore and Papal Legate, during the Fortieth International Eucharistic Congress held in Melbourne.
He served in various parishes in the Archdiocese and was Secretary to Bishop John A Kelly from 1979 to 1984.
He undertook doctoral studies at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, specialising in the Theology of Marriage, and in 1987 was appointed an Official of the Pontifical Council for the Family. Over the next decade, he travelled extensively, representing the Holy See at international gatherings, including United Nations conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, and Beijing.
He returned to Melbourne in 1997 and served as Episcopal Vicar for Religious Education. He also served as Parish Priest at East Malvern and Director of the Melbourne campus of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family.
In 2007, after more than 30 years of priestly ministry, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne responsible for the Southern Region of the Archdiocese. He was consecrated Bishop on 15 June 2007.
As Bishop, he made a particular contribution to the establishment of the establishment of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross for former Anglicans. He also served as a consultor to the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
In 2018, his resignation was accepted by Pope Francis but he continued to serve the Church through retirement. He had only recently entered the Justin Villa Aged Residential Care in Balwyn.
He passed away peacefully on Wednesday, 6 August in Box Hill Hospital, just a few weeks short of his 82nd birthday.
“Bishop Peter was a pastor, teacher, and friend whose love for Christ and his Church shaped every aspect of his ministry,” said Archbishop Peter A Comensoli, Archbishop of Melbourne.
“He brought to the Archdiocese a rare combination of intellectual depth, liturgical beauty, and pastoral warmth. His life was marked by a profound sense of the sacred and a tireless commitment to the Gospel.
“In the words of the Apostle, he fought the good fight, he finished the race, he kept the faith. Now we commend him to the mercy of God, confident in the Lord’s promise: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant… enter into the joy of your Master’.”
Funeral arrangement for Bishop Peter Elliott will be announced in the coming days.
Requiescat in pace